


moonlight icarus

by soleiris



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: 10 Things, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23567560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soleiris/pseuds/soleiris
Summary: Adrien wishes he could have noticed before the way Marinette dots the 'i's in her name with small hearts when she writes. He wishes he had known before the songs he's heard her humming in class as she doodles something on her notebook, but only had the nerve to ask now.(Sometimes it's difficult to set Chat Noir apart from Adrien Agreste, but Marinette makes him feel loved whoever he is.)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 20
Kudos: 270





	moonlight icarus

**Author's Note:**

> hello! i'm actually really scared as i submit this work. i haven't wrote in a long time, which makes my english rustier than it already is, but i felt the urge to retribute the comfort and happiness mlb and its fandom brought to me, even though this work is mainly me sobbing about how i miss Him (chat noir). i hope you all can find a place in your heart to enjoy this, even if it's just a little. ♡

_Overcome by the giddiness that flying lent him, Icarus soared into the sky, but in the process, he came too close to the sun, which due to the_ _heat_ _melted the wax._

**i.**

“An eight-letter word that could be a fish.”

Adrien Agreste could count on his fingers (of one hand) the amount of times Marinette Dupain-Cheng spoke to him without stumbling on her own words. Which was why speaking to her under the spell of Chat Noir made him comfortable and secure. She was a really nice girl underneath her shyness and whatever it was that made her act awkwardly with him.

He wishes he could have known as his civilian self the things he can only see while he's disguised as someone parallel to her reality.

He wishes he could have noticed before the way she dots the 'i's in her name with small hearts when she writes. He wishes he had known before the songs he's heard her humming in class as she doodles something on her notebook, but only had the nerve to ask now.

“Interesting,” he hums, "Now that's a challenge."

They're being silly, playing crosswords just for the sake of killing time and it brings a smile to his face. How long has he considered her a friend without knowing who she really was?

“Chat?” she dissipates his thoughts, “Don't make me wait just because you don't know the answer.”

“Clearly you're not aware of how a genius' mind works,” he scoffs, “There's no need to rush, princess.”

“I’m not, but I guess you are,” she points to the sudden loud, blinking spots in his ring, “Excellent timing for you, huh?”

“Oh, we're not done here, just so you know,” he places a kiss on the back of her hand, “I'll be seeing you soon.”

“Count on it,” she says, leaning over her balcony, watching him leave the scene as he blows a kiss in her direction.

Marinette pretends she ducks from the invisible kiss as they laugh, buildings of distance between each other.

This is a side of her he wishes she knew he too liked as Adrien. Yet, as he helps her to stand up the next day after witnessing yet another display of Marinette losing her balance and getting flustered, he wonders how many sides of her he has yet to know.

He wonders if it's too early to think he'll be able to like even her greatest flaws.

**ii.**

“Are you crying?”

It takes all of his willpower to say “no” without breaking his voice. Marinette tells him that their movie sessions every Thursday aren’t scheduled meetings, but he doesn’t miss the way she brings in snacks for two “because she felt like it” or the fact that she had pillows for him on standby. 

It’s a breach in his busy schedule as Adrien Agreste and an easygoing evening for Chat Noir - he wondered if people felt less “akumatizable” on Thursdays? Whatever the reason was, he was glad he could actually find time to enjoy simple things like watching movies every now and then. Which was why he absolutely insisted for Marinette to rent (and not illegally download it, he’s a hero after all!) an online version of “Hero of my Storm”.

Both Chat and Adrien are hopeless romantics - as it should, since they’re the same person after all - but Adrien knows how to play cool about it, while Chat definitely doesn’t. So when Marinette asks again with a mischievous smile if he’s crying, he just looks away at the risk of missing on the main character’s love confession.

“You’re a sap.”

“Well, princess,” he coughs, mostly to hide his watery eyes, “I didn’t think you were this cold-hearted.”

“I’m not,” she giggles, and her melodic voice fills the room, “I just don’t think it’s that deep.”

Chat thinks about retorting with some concrete evidence about the strength of the characters’ feelings, but decides against it, “If that’s not a display of true love, then what could be?”

She looks absorbed in her own world, so he waits. He knows enough of his princess to know that it takes a while for her to come back from whatever fantasyland her mind sends her to when the subject is about love. Meanwhile, Chat allows himself to get lost as well, drowning in the immensity of her blue eyes and the dreamy sigh that involuntarily escapes her lips.

“I like to think it’s about the simple things,” she resigns herself to say.

Of course, he doesn’t know that what she’s truly thinking revolves around rain, black umbrellas and a warm laugh. He doesn’t have to know and the answer is more than enough to satisfy him. He’s a low-maintenance person after all, curiosity might kill a cat one of these days.

“If that’s the case, I guess we can pick something more adventurous next time so that it doesn’t bother you,” he scratches the back of his neck.

“Ah, that’s not necessary,” she shakes her head before smiling, “Your company is more than enough, Chat.”

When they exchange goodbyes later that night, Chat allows himself to take a deep breath as he lands on a rooftop that he knows it’s not visible from Marinette’s balcony. 

Bringing his hands to cover his eyes, he wonders if he did a good job of not allowing his blush to paint his entire face red at those words.

**iii.**

“What the hell is a F chord anyways?”

Marinette looks puzzled and Chat wonders if it would be too irresponsible of him to allow her know that he has some musical knowledge. He’s better at playing piano, by far, but he likes to think that he knows enough on what a F chord is to teach someone else.

So, pushing Ladybug’s echoing voice to the back of his mind and trusting that Marinette wouldn’t narrow down the number of people in Paris that knows how to play a guitar to find his identity out, he delicately reaches from behind to guide her hands to the strings.

“I’m guessing then you would be able to serenade someone, huh?” she says, while unsurely running her fingers against the strings.

He shrugs, trying to look smooth while suppressing a laugh, “Someone’s gotta do it for the ladies.”

“You have a point,” she rolls her eyes, “What would the women of this town do without your compliments sung in a soothing melody!”

Chat completely misses the remark on his voice, or rather ignores it for the sake of their improv lesson. “Keeping their hearts with dreams is kind of a requirement on this superhero’s duty!”

“Sure.”

“And since when you had interest in music?” he asks, curiosity making his cat ears twitch, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this focused in anything other than sewing, baking or gaming.”

“It’s lovely of you to notice the things I like,” she smiles, “But, yeah, I’ve been trying to write a song to someone. This is some tough stuff.”

“Oh?”

“A musician asked me out by writing me a song,” Marinette pushes a strand of her hair from her face and Chat can see a faint line of pink coloring her cheeks, “He’s very kind to me, so I thought I could return the gesture, but this is far more complicated than everything I’ve ever done.”

There’s an unpleasant feeling settling in his chest when he processes the words “asked” “me” and “out” in the same sentence, but Chat shakes the sensation away the best he can.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, there’s nothing you can’t do,” he flashes her a grin and a thumbs up, “I gotta go for now, but when you find out how to write songs, make sure you can give me some tips on how to improve my serenades.”

“For the ladies?”

He winks, “Always for the ladies.”

Jumping from building to building, Plagg casually comments that it felt odd to ask for advice on how to write something for the person you’d like to write something for. Adrien tries not to give him attention, but it’s difficult to lie to someone who knows the depths of his heart.

Instead, he doesn’t say anything else until they reach home.

**iv.**

“How do you feel about Mr. Fluffball?”

They’ve been thinking about what to name her new companion: a hamster. He (they found out after some research) had small paws, curious black eyes, and white and orange fur, the kind of that looks little spots of a ladybug splattered around his body. He curses his train of thoughts as his heart skips a beat.

“No offense, but that's kind of lame, even for you.”

“Chat!” Marinette looks horrified, her eyes looking like they're about to fall out of her face, “That's rude!”

He fakes wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, “Sorry princess, you kind of brought this one on yourself.”

“Since you're clearly _sooooo_ good at this kind of stuff, what would you suggest as a name?”

“Something cool and remarkable,” he grins, “Like... Matheu Theodore Noir The Second.”

Marinette stares at him indignantly before exploding in laughter, “ _The Second_? Chat, you're too much!”

“What can I do? He has to have a dashing role model like me to set an example.”

“As if.”

“It's my duty to allow this child to have a proper name, princess.”

“He barely has a name yet and you already took it upon you to be his father?” the air is leaving her lungs with every laugh, “You're acting as if we were some sort of a married couple.”

Chat instantly freezes in his tracks. 

Her laughter dies and Marinette looks guilty upon realizing her mistake. “Sorry, did I push that too far? I really didn’t mean to set your feelings for Ladybug aside.”

The air suddenly seems heavy and Chat excuses himself meekly.

Things would be easier if the way he felt right now corresponded to the reasoning behind her words.

**v.**

“Happy birthday Chat!”

Adrien might be a Libra, but Marinette once said Chat Noir was obviously a Leo, so he picked a random date in August to be his birthday just to please her. It turned out that she remembered, marked the day on her calendar and even went through the trouble of wrapping a gift for him in nicely lime-colored paper, with a black ribbon adorning it.

She made him a bracelet, with Chat-themed charms, and his eyes twinkle under the balcony lights, because no one has ever given him a gift that you could feel so intensely the care the person poured into making that piece. It made him feel special, even though he knew Marinette devoted every part of herself into crafting anything she did.

“I hope it can be practical enough for you, since, y’know, you’re always all and about,” she adjusts the bracelet on him and pulls a pocket mirror from her purse, “Do you like it?”

He loves it. He’s so happy he spins her in his arms in a joyous moment, “Thank you so much, you’re the best!”

She looks flustered, but that doesn’t make her smile dim any less. “You’re welcome, I’m really glad you think so.”

As he places her down, he doesn’t feel like letting go of her waist. He’s overflowing with so many good emotions right now, his heart swelling in his chest. Adrien can’t remember the last time he felt like this - giddy, bubbly - and he treasures the feeling as he clutches a charm that resembles his baton.

“I thought you were busy preparing for a contest,” he suddenly remembers, “Did making this interrupt anything else you were doing?”

“No! W-well, I guess I said that…” Marinette looks around, suddenly interested in the plants of her balcony, “But that’s because… I didn’t want you to find out… In case you checked on me…”

“I guess it was for a good reason,” he now fiddles with a paw-shaped charm, “I’m really grateful, y’know?”

“That’s what friends are for.”

He pauses for a second, reflects on those five words and laughs to himself.

Marinette looks at him quizzically, but he swats the feeling away and ignores Plagg’s babbling in his head. To show his appreciation, he decides to take her for a walk, and by walk he means twirling around Paris as she holds onto him.

She giggles through all of their ride, her eyes shining brighter than all of the stars combined. When he brings her back home, he notices how her hair looks a little disheveled and he can feel his heart leaping against his chest.

“I hope this was a good birthday, you've been looking a little down lately,” she comments “Goodnight, Chat.”

She thanks him with a kiss on his cheek before descending to her bedroom and it’s enough for Adrien to feel his world spinning around him.

“I love you, my princess,” he whispers into the night and prays that she doesn’t hear it.

**vi.**

“You do know about Adrien Agreste, right?”

Loving Marinette is easy and it’s tougher than he thinks.

Acknowledging something is simple enough for Chat. No matter how much he tried to block those feelings in the past, loving Marinette feels right and it feels fair. It feels like touching the ground as if it were a safe haven instead of the heart-aching struggle of reaching to the sky with bare hands. 

What truly breaks that fantasy is knowing he could overcome his past crush, while she’s still enamored of the same person.

The sun is about to set as they speak of their celebrity crushes over leftover bakery goods and argue over that if you're acquainted with a celebrity that makes them any less of an unreachable person.

Chat doesn't seem to agree - if he's a celebrity and Ladybug is a celebrity herself, why would it be a “celebrity crush”? They know each other so the status of an impossible relationship that a celebrity crush implies automatically becomes invalid. It is indeed an impossible relationship, especially now with his newfound feelings, but Marinette doesn’t have to know that yet. She sighs impatiently.

“Well, if you’re following that logic, I've been writing love letters to Adrien Agreste for three and a half years now and that never made him like me any better.”

He gulps and he's glad she doesn't see it. The thought of Marinette writing him letters sends a shiver down his spine because loving Adrien doesn't exactly equals loving Chat. He's aware of that everytime he sees her in school, because now she doesn't stutter around him anymore, but her eyes are still wary around him and he knows there's so much to work on their friendship. 

She still refers to him by his full name even though Chat already stated that he knows who Adrien is, and it shows the distance between them.

“Do you still love him?”

She senses the change of mood and the way she speaks seems like stepping on glass shards, “I don't know. After almost four years I'm proud to say that I'm not obsessed about him anymore, which is healthy, but I still enjoy the feeling of liking him, I guess.”

He hums, thoughtful, "Makes sense to me."

And it really did. He could confidently say he didn’t want do pursue Ladybug romantically anymore. However, upon reflecting everything they went through, the battles, the victories, the losses, all of it, it was safe to say that he did enjoy the feeling of being in love with her.

He’s certain she doesn’t have the same definition in her heart as himself, but that’s a matter for another time.

“I’m glad you understand,” she stands up from where she was stitching a button, “Not many people get it, how hard it truly is to move on. I’ve loved him ever since middle school, it’s not easy to let go, even though Alya insists that I need to go on a date one of these days.”

“I thought you went on a date with the musician guy the other day,” he remembers and Marinette feels like the ground could swallow her right now.

“I did,” she fidgets, “As sweet as Luka is... It didn’t feel right. It felt like misleading him and I didn’t think of him like that.”

“Oh.”

“Gladly, he understood,” she closes her eyes in thought, “I think he deserves someone who likes him just as much.”

“I see,” Chat muses, “Just saying, Adrien should be really lucky you feel like this for him.”

“Yeah?”

He doesn’t say it back and Marinette is torn between thinking he’s lying and actually meaning his words.

If only she knew how correct she was.

**vii.**

She doesn't say anything. Chat interrupts her before she does.

It's not chivalrous in the least, which betrays his ideals, but he kisses her. 

He's done pretending that he doesn't feel anything for her. Acting like she's just a friend has been killing him inside out in ways he didn't know it was possible.

Cupping her cheeks, he can feel the closeness between them - the way she smells like strawberry shampoo and freshly baked bread, the way her nails feel against his arms as she holds onto him like a lifeline - as he would let her go any second now.

He could never, is all what his mind screams, wishing she could be aware of that reasoning.

They breathe in what feels like forever and her grip is still tight around him.

He can see the way her face is flaring up close and he hopes this color is her favorite shade of pink, because it wears her so well.

“I-I thought…”

“I thought so too,” he looks directly at her eyes and she looks elsewhere, as if it could ignore the obvious tension between them, “But nowadays all I can think is about you.”

Marinette is always calculating her moves, Chat sees, especially when she's nervous. Her plan unfolds in sighing on one, catching her breath on two and latching her arms against his neck on three.

This time, she kisses him, and it looks like the city lights shine only for them.

**viii.**

“It's you.”

She gasps a moment later, gears turning in her head, as Adrien reveals himself to her.

“Disappointed?” he looks down, immediately noticing the contrast between the two sides of himself.

“Not in the least!” she sounds and looks offended, as if it were her, “If anything, wouldn't you be let down knowing that Ladybug and I were the same person?”

“Why would I be?”

She laughs hollowly, “Just look at me.”

“Already am.”

“I'm... There's no way…” she rubs her hand against her eyes in a faint attempt of drying her tears, “It makes sense for Chat Noir to be someone important as his civilian self, but someone like _me_ to be a heroine?”

That's not how he's pictured this situation.

Adrien spent many nights wide awake wondering the hundreds and millions of “what if”s when he decided to reveal his identity. He couldn't guess, not even close of an entry on his “worst case scenario” list, that knowing who he was would make her feel _bad_ about _herself_. Knowing that the person who has listened to him, spoke to him, made him feel loved is suffering under the weight of the burden he carries brings him to the brim of his own insecurities and fears.

Adrien always felt like Icarus, which is an irony on itself - the boy who was supposed to be like sunshine, the one who flew too close to the sun and fell, but right now, it’s as if Marinette’s wings are burning.

If Chat Noir represents bad luck, then Adrien must be like a curse. 

“I can’t think right now, I’m sorry Adr- Chat.”

This time, she's the one who exits, leaving Adrien to battle with his own thoughts.

**ix.**

"I guess we could use some talking."

They’ve been avoiding each other for two weeks. 

Which is a feat by itself, and had it been any different, Adrien would have been stunned by the many ways Marinette manages to avoid him at school and whenever they’re fighting a villain. She’s able to use the least amount of words she can, and the worst is that even like this he can still communicate with her perfectly, understanding even her faintest signal.

So when she shows up over their spot and detransforms, he has a hard time hiding his surprise. No superpowers, no secret identity - just Marinette, her heart in her sleeve and his world in her hands. Adrien almost feels embarrassed to be Chat right now, but he knows he couldn't possibly handle her fiery gaze being the less-confident version of himself.

“I guess we could.”

“I’ve been really mean and selfish to you, Adrien,” she says his name so softly, as if she’s afraid it could shatter as she speaks, “And I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Marinette” it’s his turn to be careful saying her name out loud, the nine-letter word he’s forbidden himself to utter, “I get it, better than you think.”

“I really have to. I’ve only thought about myself and how insecure I was and didn’t notice the way I’ve been hurting you all this time,” she sits near him, feet dangling a hundred meters below, “More than anything, you’re my best friend. I trust you more than anyone else in this world and the fact that I doubted your confidence is barely excusable. I doubted that you wouldn’t judge me and yet I’ve been the one to jump to conclusions.”

Her honesty is so powerful he can’t even wrap his mind on a single sentence to reply.

“I love you,” Marinette smiles sadly and stands up, “You deserved to know that, even if you didn’t want to.”

It’s cold all the way up the Eiffel tower, so Adrien hopes Marinette feels at least a little warmer when he hugs her, wishing to convey every fiber of his body into telling her how he feels. 

“I love you too,” he whispers, “More than you could possibly know.”

There are tears pooling on the corner of her eyes and a few strands of her hair stick where some of them previously fell. Adrien thinks she’s never looked so beautiful.

They embrace tightly and the rhythm of her heart racing against his says more than any other words they could have managed to say.

**x.**

“Earth to Chat? Are you there?”

Adrien is Chat Noir and Marinette is Ladybug. Sometimes Adrien is more Chat and sometimes Marinette is more Ladybug. It's something they've been learning together - to converge their strong and weak points into the same person.

Even with all of that known, it's more often than not that the silly chaton meets the princess. It's what they're most comfortable with, loving each other at the pinnacle of their freedom.

“I’ve been thinking…”

“You shouldn’t,” Marinette laughs, “There could be some permanent brain damage from it.”

“You’re the worst, you know,” he sighs, less annoyed than he makes out to be, “Here I am, actually trying to ask something serious and personal, and you’re being a baby about it.”

“Gee, to think you were always this dramatical…” she mimics his voice and laughs again when he pouts, “Go on, shoot it.”

"If you had to choose between Adrien and Chat Noir, who would you pick?"

Marinette smiles, the answer ready on the tip of her lips, as if she’s been waiting for that question for the longest time.

Adrien loves the way she’s one step ahead of him every single time.

“I love the you above the sun and I love the you under the moonlight.”

Right now, it looks like the sun is moving through those mysterious minutes that mark the change of scenery, when it's neither day or night, only the uncertain dusk - yet the sky is exploding in an array of beautiful shades of colors and he has a feeling Marinette would love that too.

(She does. It's her favorite part of the day after all.)


End file.
